Speaker:

Angeles Salles, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago

Title:

Neuroethology of Bat Communication and Social Behavior

Abstract:

Bats are auditory specialists, processing acoustic signals to guide their behaviors, including prey tracking, navigation, and communication. Most bat species are very social and emit a wide array of communication calls, including food-claiming, aggressive, and appeasement calls. There is strong evidence that context plays a role in the processing of acoustic signals in humans and other animals. Yet, this process's circuits and mechanisms are still not fully understood. Bats emerge as outstanding mammalian models to explore the neural mechanisms underlying acoustic communication processing. In the lab, we work with two phylogenetically distant species of bats: Carollia perspicillata and Rousettus aegyptiacus. Though these are both frugivorous bats, these species have many differences. First, they have different echolocation mechanisms; Carollia bats are laryngeal echolocators (i.e. use their larynx to produce ultrasonic sonar signals), while Rousettus bats are lingual echolocators (i.e. use tongue clicks to produce ultrasonic sonar signals). Both species use their larynx to produce their communication signals, but their repertoire differs greatly in structure and spectral patterns. Furthermore, they have different social structures; while Carollia is a harem-forming bat with high-roost fidelity, Rousettus is promiscuous, and mating can occur with different males in a season. We are leveraging these differences to contrast and compare the underlying neural circuits for social communication and behavior across taxa. In this talk, I will provide an overview of our current work and our preliminary findings on the social behavior of these different bats and on the neural circuits used to process communication signals.

Speaker Bio:

Angie Salles is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago. Her career in neuroethology started during her PhD at the University of Buenos Aires, in Argentina, comparatively investigating the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory in mice and crabs. She pursued her postdoctoral work in Dr. Moss’s lab at Johns Hopkins University, investigating auditory processing in bats. Currently, Angie’s lab focuses on the neurobiology of communication and social behavior in bats.

Location:

In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/95924022043
Passcode: NICO24

About the Speaker Series:

Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.

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